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More Information...
Publisher: Dean & Munday (Reprint 2003 by Raudins Publishing), 1830.
Hard Cover, 284 pages, 6 x 9.
Item #1309
A circa 1830 brewing book reprinted by Raudins Publishing! The Town and Country Brewery Book by W. Brande is a brilliant early 19th century English book discussing different types of regional English brewing techniques and their recipes. At the time, Brande considered most of the books over the previous 50 years to have been simple recompilations of the same information and the same mistakes. He felt that a new book with practical instructions was needed and he set out to produce The Town And Country Brewery Book. Thankfully he chose to fill the void he saw because the result of his work is almost 300 pages of period English brewing unlike any other book we have read. What Brande achieved, in writing The Town and Country Brewery Book, was saving information about styles of beer and brewing techniques which don't exist today. Styles such as Devonshire White Ale and Edinburgh Oat Ale. Never heard of some of these beers? One reason is that this book is extremely scarce! Very few copies of the original book appear to have survived the test of time. (We have only been able to locate 4 copies in libraries world wide.) Regional English Perspective Brande understood that brewing and the resulting beers varied across the country (Great Britain) and described the effort he made to capture this information: "Every county in England is more or less noted for the quality of its malt liquors. It was a principal object of the author, before he commenced his labours, to furnish himself with every particular as regards these various methods of producing the different drinks, which are so famous in different parts of the British dominions. Of these, proper notes were taken, and the necessary remarks and observations made, preparatory to publication." Brande includes "Observations on Various Country Methods" for brewing from Norfolk, Bristol, Rochester, Bridgewater, Elminister, Yorkshire, and Nottingham. Brande even goes so far as to include a recipe from America to "make a wholesome cheap drink." Not forgetting that private ale brewing also produced some fine beverages, he also worked with private brewers to document some of their techniques and recipes. He even includes a recipe which was "long in the author's family at Topsham." This attention to regional beers and techniques is an extremely valuable aspect of this book. Recipes & Instructions As noted above, Brande wrote of styles of beer which haven't survived to this day. He also provided recipes for other more normal period beers. There are recipes and/or instructions for Devonshire White Ale, Edinburgh Oat Ale, Yorkshire Oat Ale, Nottingham Sparkling Ale, Stout Butt Beer, Dark nutt-brown ale (Stitch), Welch/Burton Ales, porter, Intire Guile small beer, spruce beer, twopenny, and more. (Black) Patent Malt In 1817, Daniel Wheeler patented a new roasted malt which would change the course of darker beers, stout and porter, forever. (Black) Patent malt would be part of the end of Brown Malt. The Town and Country Brewery Book is one of the first brewing manuals to include a section discussing Patent malt and its uses. Additional Topics As any good brewing book should, The Town And Country Brewery Book includes discussions on barley, malt, hops, water, fermentation, fining, and yeast. It also includes the following interesting topics: * Brewing beer/ale according to an "Inn-Keeper", a "Family Man," an "Old Welsh Woman", and a "Country Victualler."
* Illegal Ingredients - An interesting discussion on ingredients which were considered illegal to use in brewing by the public brewers but could be used by private brewers.
* The effects of the seasons on brewing.
* Bottling Malt Liquors.
* Working with Casks. The book is a hard cover bound in bonded leather with gold foil stamping on the spine and front cover. It is 284 pages (+preface) and printed on 60lb. natural offset paper.
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